Various situations of late have helped me recognize that our family is changing.
Now, on the one hand, this is absolutely plain to even the most obtuse person.
Every year we celebrate birthdays, and time moving on means change.
As Billie Eilish would say, "duh."
But it is different from that.
It is that the changes within my kids are impacting the family dynamic.
This has happened before, but it is more appreciably noticeable now.
Much of it I recognized on vacation.
Like N losing her mind because the cell signal was so bad that she couldn't Facetime her boyfriend on the beach when we first arrived.
N losing her mind, in general, is not something she does often.
Sure, she was tired of being in the car for two days with her brothers.
But it was crankiness coupled with boyfriend angst and technology and knowing that she was going to be away from her life for two whole weeks.
I mean, just boyfriend angst alone is a relatively new situation that has pushed me (and the family) into all-new "WTF" territory.
And then there was G who has always loved the beach.
Loved the waves.
Loved the sand.
He's almost 12, and evidently, those days are over.
He even complained about being away from friends for two weeks.
The kids are simply getting to an age where the things that keep them sufficiently occupied for extended periods of time years ago no longer do the trick.
I myself do not wish to sit and play in the sand for hours every day on the beach.
That is a very childlike thing to do.
Adulting, in many cases, means it takes a lot more to keep you entertained.
I've noticed that they are all starting to like more adult things, like Stranger Things, which isn't a "little kid" show at all.
And adult music.
Yesterday, M got braces, which N also had when she was around 9 or 10 due to a lovely familial underbite issue.
When I took both boys for an orthodontic check in early June, M going into braces was not even remotely on my radar.
And now it is not only on my radar but installed and paid for.
Now, on the one hand, this is absolutely plain to even the most obtuse person.
Every year we celebrate birthdays, and time moving on means change.
As Billie Eilish would say, "duh."
But it is different from that.
It is that the changes within my kids are impacting the family dynamic.
This has happened before, but it is more appreciably noticeable now.
Much of it I recognized on vacation.
Like N losing her mind because the cell signal was so bad that she couldn't Facetime her boyfriend on the beach when we first arrived.
N losing her mind, in general, is not something she does often.
Sure, she was tired of being in the car for two days with her brothers.
But it was crankiness coupled with boyfriend angst and technology and knowing that she was going to be away from her life for two whole weeks.
I mean, just boyfriend angst alone is a relatively new situation that has pushed me (and the family) into all-new "WTF" territory.
And then there was G who has always loved the beach.
Loved the waves.
Loved the sand.
He's almost 12, and evidently, those days are over.
He even complained about being away from friends for two weeks.
The kids are simply getting to an age where the things that keep them sufficiently occupied for extended periods of time years ago no longer do the trick.
I myself do not wish to sit and play in the sand for hours every day on the beach.
That is a very childlike thing to do.
Adulting, in many cases, means it takes a lot more to keep you entertained.
I've noticed that they are all starting to like more adult things, like Stranger Things, which isn't a "little kid" show at all.
And adult music.
Yesterday, M got braces, which N also had when she was around 9 or 10 due to a lovely familial underbite issue.
When I took both boys for an orthodontic check in early June, M going into braces was not even remotely on my radar.
And now it is not only on my radar but installed and paid for.
This photo just screams, "BABYFACE. I AM STILL YOUR BABY, MOM!"
One hour later
This photo screams: I AM NOW A TEENAGER. OFF TO COLLEGE SOON, MOM.
And don't get me wrong: I'm not sad that my kids are growing up.
I'm not sad that they can fix their own lunches and stay at home while I run errands.
I'm not sad that they no longer through tantrums because I gave them a red instead of a green sippy cup.
If there is anything I'd hate about being a Duggar-style family, it is being stuck in what feels like a baby/infant/toddler/preschooler cycle for freakin' ever.
What we're having to do as a family, though, is submit to the changes that are happening and accept their realities.
Like, in a couple years, we likely won't have family vacations as we have always known them.
We may not even have "vacations" since they may be glorified college exploration trips.
Once G is off at college and M is home at high school, we may reconsider our "absolutely no friends on vacations" rule.
Always having had an older sibling around may make M want/need a buddy to hang out with.
Our family has always been in a state of flux, but the flux is more apparent now.
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